Open House Chicago

Today I dragged the boys to Open House Chicago. Open House Chicago is a self-guided tour of 150 architecturally-interesting spaces that are normally closed to the public. The sights are laid out geographically on a map, and the boys and I picked three nearby to visit.

First, Jett and I visited my selection, Ignite Glass Studios. I wasn't sure what to expect. Were we just there to admire the building, or would we see artists in action? Would it be interesting for kids? Would it be crowded?

Artists in action, yes, and no. We loved it!

The space was pretty awesome. We walked up a cement path decorated with long colorful rectangles of glass then we entered their front yard through a wrought-iron and stained-glass gate. The lawn was decorated with bales of hay and pumpkins both real and glass, which you could purchase. Charming!

Walking in to the building, we went straight back to watch the glass blowers in action. We saw the glowing orange kilns and watched the glass change from liquid to solid right before our eyes. Mesmerizing! 

When the presentation was over Jett and I designed our own glass tile masterpieces. (Jett's is the jack-o-lantern and mine is the one that says BOO below.) The Jett decorated a Halloween cookie. It was a perfect event for an eight-year-old and his mom and I was so glad that we went.

Our second visit (after stopping home to pick up Kai) was The Conservation Center, where artists conserve and restore art. Jett picked this one because I told him that conserving art involved chemistry and art. I think he was excited about the science part. After our awesome experience at Ignite Glass Studio I was really excited to see what we could do and see at The Conservation Center, but unfortunately all they had planned was a short introductory speech about the work they do. They had nearly the entire room roped off so we couldn't even explore. We didn't get to see many examples of their work, look through the microscopes or look in the "hood" (where they make the chemicals). Jett made a valiant effort to listen to their speech, but Kai was out of his mind with boredom. Back to the car.

Then we made the best decision of the day.

 Threadless Warehouse and Headquarters

The office is a playful space with murals on the walls, t-shirts hanging from the ceiling, and games.

We toured the warehouse and office, played with lego figurines that an employee left sitting out on her desk, and played with all of the games in their lobby. Everyone visiting Threadless seemed laid-back and relaxed. One guy played a video game with Jett (who was looking longingly at it but hadn't asked me for money for it yet) and no one seemed to mind our errant ping-pong balls. 

He won the point but lost the match. Then I accidentally beat both Jett and Kai, but they were good sports about it, probably because they still had darts and foosball left to play.

 He was too short to pretend to pee in it, which is what all of the grown-ups were doing!

It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Back on our Bikes!

The weather is nice and the forecast is beautiful so we finally hauled the bikes out of storage and got them ready for spring! We put air in the tires but had to take Kai's in for a minor repair. Here we are on the way to West Town Bikes.

While waiting for the repair to be done we headed over to Humboldt Park and ran in to two friends along the way. I love running in to friends at the park!

This morning we biked to school. It's 1.5 miles away and took us about an hour. Once Kai graduates to a bigger bike I think it will go faster, but he really loves his bike and doesn't want a new one. Yet. Besides, we'll never be too fast as there are so many alleys and crosswalks to stop at. Ah, city biking.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Weekend!

It is crazy in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day weekend, especially when the weather is a balmy 40 degrees after a week in the 20s. Parking was crazy, pedestrians were everywhere, and my parents (who are visiting this weekend) and I had to dodge several festive groups as we walked, and they wove, down the sidewalk at noon.

It was too cold for us to go downtown to the parade on Saturday, and given the crowd that was out and about in our neighborhood I had no interest in meeting the crowd at the parade. Jett had a writing workshop near home anyway so we dropped him off there and then walked through the neighborhood stores. We had a relaxed, nice day of board games, dinner (corned beef on rye!), and movie night at home. We pumped up the air mattresses and popped popcorn and everything to watch Cool Runnings. It's a good post-Olympics flick.

Today was busier. We watched the boys play soccer and then ate brunch at Wishbone. After that we headed to the art institute to visit The Thorne Rooms because Jett and I are reading The Sixty-Eight Rooms, which my mom got Jett for Christmas. Jett and I had a blast looking at all of the rooms that Ruthie and Jack visit in the book. Next time we have to remember to bring the book with us, because we started getting confused about some of the details, and we couldn't remember everything that we wanted to. We also haven't finished the book yet, which would have helped. It was still fun though and I'm looking forward to going back after we finish the book.

We also headed down to the family space and spent some significant time creating our own still-life. We tweeted the picture of Kai's still life and Jett's still life to the art institute and the pictures showed up on a scrolling screen in the room, which was pretty cool. It felt pretty good to be able to touch things and move around freely after spending an hour just looking.

Of course we stopped by the Chicago River to get a picture of it while it is so green.

Finally, tonight before bed the boys constructed some fairly elaborate Leprechaun Traps. We are hoping to catch a leprechaun tonight, or at the very least we are hoping that we find some of his gold. Kai had trouble falling asleep because he is both excited to find gold and freaked out about catching a leprechaun. Jett had trouble falling asleep just because he's so excited. I don't think I will have any trouble falling asleep, but I do hope there is gold in the traps when I wake up!

No Homework!

On Monday both of the boys' teachers were absent and neither substitute sent home any homework. It felt like a holiday! The boys had time to play, I had time to cook dinner, it was wonderful.

What did the boys do with all of their free time? They played Pokemon all evening. Every morning this week they've woken up and continued the game. They've been so into it that we even let them keep the cards spread out on the floor until this morning. They don't have the Pokemon game board, so they have had to make up their own version, which is somewhat impressive. It's fun to listen to them play.

At least the pizza is good!

A school fundraiser at Chuck E. Cheese is both genius and a total PITA. Thankfully I had a lot of friends there too!

Soccer

The boys love getting to soccer early. They couldn't wait to get on the "field" today and even complained that I was tying their shoes too slowly. Here is a 45 second video of their fun, including a couple of goals, several saves, and a drop kick.

Talent Show Time!!!

I LOVE the talent show and here's why:

Homework video...

…should be working now. If you watch it every week day at about 4:30 pm it will be like you are right here with us. Enjoy!

http://rockrocksilly.blogspot.com/2014/01/kindergarten-homework.html

Flashback to Fall

It's freezing out today, but when it's nice out I try to get the boys to ride their bikes to school as many mornings as possible. One day this past fall, for a reason I can't remember, the boys and I walked home from school.

It's a mile and a half walk. The boys barely made it. I can't wait until the weather warms up and I can make them do this again!

Morning Projects.

School was cancelled today because it is so extremely cold out. After the boys played 3 hours of wii this morning (two hours before I even woke up) I finally made them turn off of the TV. It was only 9:00 am. What to do, what to do.

Projects!

Jett made this coin purse using Kai's Loop-n-Loom.

Jett and I then made this rug by cutting, folding, braiding, coiling, and ironing plastic shopping bags.

Kai made these treasure maps for Jett and I to follow. Some were more elaborate than others. The treasure was always the same - a small square piece of pink paper. Once Kai hid it in the toilet, which had him cracking up before Jett and I even started looking for it. There was lots of hand washing after that one!

At 11:00 I glanced at the clock and none of us could believe how quickly the day was going by. Snow day success!

Later on they ate lunch in front of the TV and watched several shows in a row while eating sour gummy candy. When Charlie got home from work we all went to Toys R Us so the boys could spend their money on more Skylander nonsense. We stopped and ate chicken wings, french fries, and pop for dinner, then stayed up past bedtime to play with their new Skylander guys. So many luxuries today!

School is closed again tomorrow. Charlie and I will both be trying to work from home while the boys try not to let us. Can we have two great days in a row? I hope so!!

Kindergarten Homework

Have you ever wondered how a five year old does his homework? Very slowly.  Here's your 2 minute glimpse.

PreK Reunion

We went bowling with our friends from Jett's preschool class on Saturday. It was the first time we've been to a bowling alley in years without having to bring a birthday present. There was no birthday party this time - just a party party.

The other difference from our bowling experience in years past is that the adults actually got to bowl. We had two lanes and the kids had two lanes and there was hardly ever any intermingling, except when the kids wanted money for soda and video games.

The kids kept score by themselves. They ate pizza mostly by themselves. They ran from video game to bowling lane by themselves. There weren't any arguments or major meltdowns. I was amazed.

The other amazing thing is that Kai didn't play a single video game. He bowled the entire time. He celebrated like a champion.

Before we left for bowling I asked Jett if he remembered everyone who would be there. I wondered if he remembered their names. Although I see the moms pretty regularly, the kids haven't gotten together since our picnic dinner at the beach. Many of the kids still go to school together, and we are one of the few who don't go to school there any more. So I wondered how it would go. I was a little nervous when Jett, in thinking about who would be there, said things like "The girl with the blonde hair" and "the one boy who is friends with the other boy". Thankfully I remembered everyone's name with a little prompting and we got it all sorted out in his head before we arrived.

They are the nicest kids and I have to get my boys together with them more often.

Winter Assembly - Kindergarten

They sang Let it Snow. Here is a link to the video. The 2nd grade video is there too.

There is something thrilling about seeing your child perform on stage. Their courage, their seriousness, their cuteness! You can't help but hold your smart phone in the air.

Indoor Recess

Yoga in the cafeteria.

Obviously I haven't figured out how to use my computer to subtly blur out faces.

Special Guest at Daley Plaza

Making Christmas Presents for Charlie

I asked the boys to draw each other's portrait for Charlie for Christmas. This was the best idea ever. 

We were very organized. We started with regular pencils and erasers. They spent a significant amount of time staring at each other and holding poses for each other. They made sure to get each other's eyes just right. I loved watching them work so hard on the details.

When they finished their outlines we laid out the colored pencils and talked about what color to make each feature (eyes, hair, cheeks, clothes). After making their decisions on colors, they began to fill in their outlines - with care. It was so cute that I felt like I really go the best present, which was watching them work so well with each other and so carefully on their project. Unfortunately Charlie only got the final product. Had I realized how that would work out I would have recorded the process for him.

He still got an awesome gift though. We hung each drawing on a clipboard for him to take to work, and put each photograph in a frame. Merry Christmas, Charlie!

Holding the picture his brother drew of him... 

...And holding the picture his brother drew of him!

Making Ornaments at Lill Street Art Center

A few weeks before Christmas Charlie, the boys and I took a clay ornament making class at Lill Street Art Center. I won this class at a silent auction fundraiser last year and it was by far the favorite thing I won (beating out a summer camp for Jett and music lessons for the boys).

The instructors were so laid back and friendly, there was plenty of material, the other families taking the class were pleasant, and we had plenty of time to make several ornaments. Jett and I worked together to make a gingerbread house, an igloo, a football, and lots of other ornaments while Kai and Charlie worked together on other ornaments. We learned how to shape the clay and make two pieces stick together, how to hollow them out or poke a hole through them for the firing process, and how to paint them. Jett and I were completely absorbed in the process. Charlie and Kai may have been less driven, but they still made a lot of ornaments. I loved being back in an art studio. I think we all had fun.When we were done we left the ornaments there to be glazed. Two weeks later we picked them up, brought them home, and hung them on our tree. Our first home made ornaments!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was really disappointing at our house this year. Charlie got sick and we cancelled the majority of our travel plans. Since we had planned to be out of town for 4 days straight our fridge was empty. We were most definitely out of comfort food.

On Thanksgiving Charlie was in bed so it was just me and the boys. We played games, played wii, and played football outside. I'm sure we watched at least one movie and maybe more. I loved having that time with the boys, but I really missed Thanksgiving dinner. I did make pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, so at least we had something seasonal and delicious. But lunch was peanut butter and jelly and dinner was macaroni and cheese and when you are counting on a turkey dinner with friends and family, peanut butter and macaroni and cheese is just depressing. It's really ridiculous of me to complain though, because I wasn't the one sick and that had to be even more disappointing. Poor Charlie was banished to his bedroom and it work. None of us caught it.

We finally made it up to Lake Geneva on Saturday afternoon. Its so gorgeous up there and most of the Johnsons were there and we really wasted no time. Within a few minutes of our arrival Papa walked Jett and Kai to a neighboring house to play with their second cousins. I just love how excited they get to play with all of their cousins. They have so much fun.

On Sunday several cousins, including the boys, played an extremely long, competitive, and friendly game of soccer. Kai stayed focused on the game the entire time, which was thrilling to see. I stood with the adults on the sidelines, freezing, watching our kids laugh and run and peel off mittens, jackets, and hats one by one. I loved it!

I've got a few really great shots of the cousins all together after the game, but I didn't ask any of them if I could post them on the blog, so instead I'll post one of them in action. This might be my favorite soccer game to watch yet.

Autumn 2013

I'm playing catch up again on this blog as usual. Oh well! It must be the two jobs, two kids, and one tiny condo in constant need of organizing that keeps me away from this thing. Let's see if I can't fill in some of the blanks.

It's the wee hours of the morning at this moment, and I can't sleep. Outside it is freezing, double digits below zero. School is cancelled for the second day in a row, coming off of a two week winter break. Jett has had 0 play dates this break and Kai has had one. Aside from spending Christmas in Michigan, we've been hermits for two weeks in the regular cold. Now it is colder than regular cold and I realize that I should have gotten out more while the getting was good!

Today I get to take the boys with me to a work event though - a play date at The Land of Nod. Most of the children there will probably be about 2 years old. I hope that the boys can contain themselves and not trample over all of the babies. They have to be good for an hour. Wish me luck.

But, back to the fall. We've had a lot of germs over here this season. I'm pretty sure the boys and I had walking pneumonia for about a month - or more like two months in my case. Then the flu hit, and now half of us are coughing again. By the time early November came around I was so exhausted and sore from coughing that all I wanted was to lay on my mom's couch and eat the dinner she would make me. So I loaded the boys in to the car and drove 6 hours to visit my sister, brother, and parents for a long weekend. I laid on their couches all weekend and barely lifted a finger, while the boys played around me and with everyone else but me. They played with Megan and Owen, Heather and Rich, went to the zoo with Nathan and Carol, and I honestly can't remember everything they did with my parents. I think they took them on a long hike through the woods, I know they played football outside several times, and decorated Christmas cookies.  I'm sure there was even more, but I slept in every morning so I missed a lot. It was a busy weekend for everyone but me, and I was thankful for it.